The question? "In this life, what is the most important thing to you?"
I got a lot of different answers. Family, friends, happiness, the gospel, the atonement, and one very important conversation in which the person I was asking was completely honest and said "money."
It's an interesting question to me, because all of these things are important. It tells a lot about a person to hear what they would put at the top of their list.
For a long time the thing I thought was most important in life, my own answer to this question, was peace. I was happy when I had it, and confused and sad when I didn't. Peace meant being done with to-do lists, having no enemies, being content to be where I was, feeling okay about myself, and having no regrets. Peace was pretty awesome, and it still is. I do like the feeling of peace.
But.
I don't know.
I think my answer has changed now.
Because, looking back, some of the most important moments of my life were anything but peaceful. Struggling to overcome shyness in junior high so that I could make new friends, letting go of close friends that were not good for me, struggling through homework and tests and studying in college, the confusing beginning of my relationship with my husband, plain old hard work, doing what's right when I really didn't want to, and countless other moments held little peace but led to so much growth.
I still love the feeling of peace after these trials, but I'm beginning to see that the trials themselves are more important. I've always had to get through them to get to the peace.
So, what's my answer now? What's the most important thing? I guess I'm still figuring it out. Maybe it's growing pains, despite how much I really don't like going through them. Maybe it's the hope that gets me through those not-so-peaceful times. Maybe it's family now that I have one of my own. Maybe it's my temple marriage. Maybe it really should be the atonement that makes all of this life possible. Maybe it's an answer that changes over time. Maybe it changes daily! And maybe it's impossible to pick just one thing to be the most important. Maybe.
How would you answer the question?
